


Can't We Pick Up The Pieces?

by juviin



Series: Kaleidoscopes [2]
Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon-Typical Classism, F/M, M/M, Minor Spoilers, nozel centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:27:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26892166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juviin/pseuds/juviin
Summary: Nozel Silva was a lot of things, but the one thing he could never be seen as was the one thing he felt. Weak.(kind of a follow up to the other one in the series, but you don't really need to read that one to understand this one.)
Relationships: Asta/Noelle Silva, Nozel Silva/Fuegoleon Vermillion
Series: Kaleidoscopes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1961995
Comments: 1
Kudos: 78
Collections: IAmStoryteller's Best of Black Clover Fic Rec





	Can't We Pick Up The Pieces?

The first time Nozel Silva saw his sister after he had sent her to the Black Bulls, he realized that he had made a grave,  _ grave _ mistake. 

Something about the way she carried herself, it was obvious. He had figured that the Black Bulls would be a safe bet, after all it was filled with disastrous commoners. He never would have imagined that one of those disastrous commoners would actually be his sister’s soulmate.

Nozel’s hatred of soulmates only grew. 

He saw the way she acted with the Black Bulls boy she was with. It had to be him. Nozel glared at the boy in disgust. He was loud, crass, and had no manners or magic to speak of whatsoever. Still, the way he defended Noelle…

And then Nozel had no time left to ponder. He almost wanted to protest Fuegoleon taking Noelle to where that boy was, but he had gotten too close to meeting Fuegoleon’s eye earlier. He had to be careful.

He felt something was off the whole fight, and being transported away made the pit in his stomach grow deeper. And then there was an intense pain in his shoulder.

His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Fuegoleon’s state, he even snapped at Solid out of the shock of it. The  _ guilt _ .

He looked over at Noelle, who seemed as if she was an inch away from tears, shouting about needing to rescue  _ him _ .

_ This  _ was exactly why Nozel hated it, why he was so against the idea of finding his own soulmate, or allowing Noelle to find hers. They were Magic Knights, constantly on the battlefield, tasked with protecting the whole kingdom. They couldn’t afford to have their judgement clouded for the sake of one person.

Still, Nozel couldn’t help the burning hatred that had manifested in his heart.

* * *

As the months went on, Nozel noticed the purples he saw getting dimmer and dimmer. He felt an aching in his chest, a fatigue that wouldn’t go away, and he knew exactly why. He wondered what would happen if one’s soulmate died before you got the change to lock eyes with them. He cursed his childish obstinance that followed him into adulthood.

At this point, nearly everything was gray once more. He looked at the paperwork on his desk, which Mereoleona had dropped off earlier.

“You look like shit.” Nozel had looked up at her, exhaustion evident in his eyes. “I think that’s the first time you’ve ever looked me in the eyes. No need to avoid eye contact anymore, hm?”

Nozel sighed. “That’s right.” Mereoleona sat herself down in the chair opposite his.

“Guess where I just got back from.” She took a bottle of alcohol seemingly out of nowhere, probably from the Silver Eagles’ kitchens, and poured the two of them a drink.

“I really don’t want to.”

“Guess,” she commanded, her voice taking on an almost threatening tone.

“Hell?”

“Hah!” she laughed, “you’re close! Sometimes, even oldest siblings need an older sibling figure. I’m sure you’ve felt that way in the past.” Nozel thought back to his teenage years, being put in charge of all three of his younger siblings as their only parental figure.

“You could say that.” Nozel sipped his drink, noting that it was definitely not something from his base, unless the younger members had been purchasing stronger alcohol without his knowledge. 

“For me, the person who filled that role was your mother.” Nozel paused, not expecting his mother to be brought up. “I just got back from a volcano she introduced me to. I took your sister there, too.” That made Nozel nearly choke on his drink.

“You took my sister to a volcano?”

“Her and a few others. What, you want to be the caring big brother now?” 

“You’re right. Myself aside, none of my siblings have a proper older sibling. I fear I’ve destroyed the legacy my mother left behind. You know, she really wanted to change the royal families.” Mereoleona noticed Nozel’s face getting redder, more expressive, and she refilled his glass.

“Maybe your mother was right, maybe she wasn’t. Maybe you destroyed her legacy, but maybe you can pick up the pieces, too. I rejected royal customs, and look where that got us. I wasn’t here to protect my stupid brother.”

“He’s getting worse, isn’t he?”

“I was wondering if you’d be able to tell.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m not an idiot, Nozel. I’ve known that my brother hasn’t seen colors since we were children, and your mother told me about you, and how you started seeing purple on Fuego’s thirteenth. Acier told me about soulmates.”

“I see. You know about Noelle as well?”

“Of course. It wasn’t kept a tight secret like yours. Most people just thought she was colorblind.”

“It feels horrible. I didn’t even want her to know about it, let alone find him. It feels like a pit in my stomach that doesn’t go away, at this point I hardly see the one color anymore. I’m worried for him. The idea of her feeling like this...not to mention the recklessness of that stupid peasant.”

“Well, you’re right about that. I’ll really worry for Noelle if she gets all mopey like you every time Asta puts himself in danger.”

“I worry, too.” Mereoleona stood up and ruffled Nozel’s hair, making him pout at her.

“Well, I need to get going. My duties as captain of the Royal Knights has already started. I’ll leave this for you, it’s all the members.”

Mereoleona left then, and it had been about an hour since she left when there was another knock on Nozel’s office door. 

“Come in.” Nebra walked in and sighed, slumping in the chair across from him.

“I can’t handle sitting with him anymore. He’s complaining my ear off.”

“Solid?”

She nodded. “What’s that? The ones who passed.”

“Ye--” She grabbed the papers “--Nebra, no.”

“God, he  _ failed _ ? Now I’m going to have to hear him mope about that. Why do you have this, anyways?”

“I’m joining the Royal Knights. Captain Mereoleona was here earlier to give me more details.”

“Hmm, well, I’m glad to know that we have two reliable, level headed leaders in charge of this operation.” The sarcasm in her voice was evident.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nebra rolled her eyes, far too dramatically to be natural.

“All I’m saying is, you and Mereoleona both have a personal stake in this fight. Fuegoleon was put into a coma by the Eye of the Midnight Sun. He’s her little brother and your,” she waved her hand, “ _ whatever  _ the two of you are.”

“We are friends. And rivals. It’s an easily defined relationship.”

“Okay. Like you haven’t been pining after him since you were like, 12.” Nozel raised his eyebrows.

“I’ve been doing what the fuck since I was 12?” Now it was Nebra’s turn to look at him in shock.

“You just cursed. Holy shit. Have you been drinking?” Both sets of eyes drifted to the now-empty bottle on his desk.

“Mereoleona brought it over.”

“Oh, great. Two of the three captains being sent to deal with the Eye of the Midnight Sun are going to be hungover during the attack. Our lovely country is screwed, I guess.”

Nozel sighed deeply, and Nebra took that as a win.

“Well, I’ll be dealing with Mister Pouty if you need me.”

Nozel decided to turn in for the night at that point, deciding that any further preparations could be done in the morning. And besides, he was never any good at handling alcohol.

* * *

Nozel wasn’t sure at what point in battle he began to see purple again. He simply hadn’t been paying attention, having much bigger problems on his hands.

Therefore, when he saw Fuegoleon standing there with Mereoleona, the newly acquired Salamander by his side, he was surprised.

And in his shock, Nozel let his guard down.

And, from so far away, in the midst of a battle for their lives and their country, Nozel locked eyes with Fuegoleon for the first time in his life.

They both knew that there was no time to dwell on it at that moment, so that conversation was put on hold.

Still, neither of them knew that colors were so  _ loud _ . Nozel was relieved to at least see that his magic looked the same way he perceived it, however, Fuegoleon was not so lucky. He took it in stride, but was still in awe of how bright orange the flames he had been creating his entire life were. 

After the battle, it took days for them to have an actual conversation, between restoration efforts and every other issue that happened to crop up.

“So we are...soulmates?” Nozel sighed.

“Mereoleona didn’t tell you?”

“My sister knew?” Nozel told Fuegoleon everything he knew about the concept of soulmates, from the eye colors, to the longing, to the shared pain.

“It is,” Nozel hesitated for a moment, and became only slightly flustered at what he was saying, “most commonly associated with a romantic partnership, however there have also been cases that never went past anything platonic.”

“Well, that isn’t necessarily a problem for me.”

“Why not?” Fuegoleon smiled at Nozel, a bright, confident smile.

“Because I’ve had feelings for you for years. Do you not feel the same?” Nozel knew his face was red now.

“You can’t just say things like that, completely out of nowhere!”

“Why can’t I? I’d gladly spend the rest of my life with you, if you only said the word.” Nozel felt like he was going to die of embarrassment, and vowed to haunt Fuegoleon when he did. Luckily, he was saved by the calls of his name.

“I’m here Noelle,” he called, right as she turned the corner.

“Brother! Captain Fuegoleon! I’m glad you’re both doing well! I’m here to visit Nebra and Solid.”

“I’ll take you up now.” Nozel turned to Fuegoleon. “We can discuss...that further at a later date.”

“I’m sorry, were you discussing something important? I could have waited.”

“No, nothing of the sort. However I need to apologize to you.” Noelle looked at him strangely.

“You already did.”

“No, about something else. See, I’ve lied to you for some years now, but the truth is, I was born the same as you. Colorblind.”

“You...can’t see colors?” Her eyes were wide.

“Couldn’t. See, I’ve locked eyes with my soulmate recently, and I believe he has just proposed, if I’m not mistaken.”

**Author's Note:**

> I like the end, but I also feel like it aaaalmost feels like it got cut off. It didn't. that's the end. I'm working on a second chapter to the asta/noe counterpart, but this one will just be one and done.


End file.
